The present invention is directed to miniaturized X-Y-Z data collection devices and systems. The present invention is directly applicable to many important surface inspection and measurement tasks that have not been successfully or practically accomplished in the prior art because of overly-large 3D measurement sensor sizes and/or costs.
In the prior art, the fundamental X-Y-Z data collection sensors were based on small single-point contact touch probe technologies. A major off-line measurement industry was created using these sensors incorporating equipment known as Coordinate Measuring Machines (CMM's). These CMM's generally consist of mechanical slides or linear motions to provide a three degree-of-freedom (3-D.O.F.) translation of the small sensor relative to the part being inspected. In many CMM configurations a two-axis rotational unit known as a pan/tilt head is attached between the quill or mast of the CMM and the sensor to provide an additional two degree-of-freedom (2-D.O.F.) rotation to the sensor for part measurement flexibility. Some CMM versions will also include translations and rotations to help manipulate the part.
Due to its importance to the off-line measurement industry (the measurement of parts off the assembly line), the CMM has a long and successful development history. More than 40 years have permitted the perfection of the CMM to maximize reliability and measurement accuracies while minimizing costs. Standardization of a number of CMM versions has been achieved. Their proliferation has been so great that virtually every manufacturing facility that is required to meet some quality control standard has at least one CMM version in operation.
The success of the CMM has also created a major paradox in the measurement industry in meeting current and future goals. One side of the paradox is that the CMM was designed and developed to hold small light weight measurement sensors weighing only a few ounces. However these sensors were generally of a single point type (i.e. only one X-Y-Z data measurement point is available for each motion of the CMM). The resulting data collection times are so slow that the accelerating requirements of higher speed inspection and measurement needed to meet new manufacturing quality control goals cannot be met with these single-point sensors. The small advancement of the single-point sensor from a contact type to a single-point non-contact type has not addressed the new data collection speed requirements which are forecasted to be 100% inspection at on-line production rates.
The other side of the paradox is that current stand-alone sensors designed to generate large X,Y,Z data arrays in one view are much too large and heavy to be mounted on existing CM's. The investment cost and risk of replacing the traditional well-proven CMM in order to use these sensors are so great as to have severely handicapped the measurement industry in attempting to achieve its quality control goals.